Eason, Ireland’s leading retailer of books, stationery, magazines, cards and much more, today announced its media partnership with Today FM’s Dermot & Dave Show for this year’s seventh annual Spelling Bee.
The nationwide competition is part of an overall Eason literacy and reading initiative to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills. Over the years the competition has helped school children gain a greater appreciation of words in a fun and educational way.
‘Spelling Bee Masters’ Dermot (Whelan) and Dave (Moore) will host a range of web-page, social media and on-air updates, while Today FM’s Alison Curtis will provide live reports from a number of schools around the country, during the competition.
Speaking at the launch of the partnership, Dermot said; “We are thrilled to be part of the Eason Spelling Bee family this year. We’re looking forward to meeting the contestants and their supporters from all around the country and to hosting the All-Ireland final in June.”
The Eason Spelling Bee holds the record of over 1,100 school participants and this year looks set to smash that record, all the while helping students to develop their reading and literacy skills in a fun and creative way.
During the launch Dave also added; “I have four kids, two of them at school, so spelling is a daily exercise at home. The Eason Spelling Bee is such a great way to encourage learning how to spell. Our show is all about having fun and we look forward to supporting the competition and meeting the families, classmates and teachers involved this year.”
Alan Johnston, Group Marketing Manager at Eason, said; “We’re delighted to welcome the popular radio duo, Dermot and Dave, into the Eason family. Their unique on air chemistry will certainly entertain and engage a wide range of audiences. This year, we’re hoping to build on the success of 2016 and encourage everyone to get out there and support their local bees.”
The Spelling Bee competition starts out with registered schools holding their own in-school bee to find their school champion. The Spelling Bee team then travel around the country to hold the County Final Bees, which then leads to four Provincial Finals culminating in the All-Ireland final in June.
Speaking about her upcoming reporting role, Alison Curtis said; “As a kid I was really competitive with Spelling Bees so I am delighted to be involved. You can really feel the excitement building! This year, I get the opportunity to meet everyone around the country as I will be reporting from all the provincial finals, so I am looking forward to that.
The All-Ireland winning school will receive a collection of books for their library to the value of €7,500 and the winner themselves will be awarded a goodie package full of books worth €500 and the prestigious title of the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee champion.
Keep abuzz with all the 2017 Spelling Bee news on www.easons.com/spellingbee and @easons #EasonSpellingBee
